Hunter Bird, 19, speaks excitedly about his involvement with the Norris Center for the Performing Arts, before he’s called to take a group photo for an upcoming theater production.

“Then I get diagnosed with cancer,” he says, as he heads off.

Bird’s story, like those of others in the cast, helped form the theme of this year’s Rising Stars show.

“Imagine, Dream, Believe” will be presented Saturday at the Harlene J. Norris Pavilion. It is part of a benefit to help fund college scholarships for foster youths in Los Angeles County, and performing arts scholarships through the Norris Center’s education department, the Negri Learning Center.

The “Imagine, Dream, Believe” cast is made up of students from the Norris’ Negri Learning Center – a performing arts training program for children – as well as foster youths from Los Angeles County.

“The Norris Center has always been a great experience for me and it put my life in perspective,” Bird said.

Bird, now a student at UCLA, has been attending the center since his sophomore year of high school. The summer before his freshmen year at college he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which is at the center of his monologue in the Rising Stars show.

It’s about hope and the importance of family, he said.

“I’m doing a monologue about my journey and my experience, that I was only able to make because of my personal drive and (because) my family was there for me every second,” Bird said.

Bird said his story was important to tell because after going through chemotherapy he sees the world through “rose-colored glasses.”

“I never had a problem sharing,” he said. “The hardest part is telling a story and finding where all the emotion comes from, and its real strength wasn’t just from me but also from my family.”

This is the seventh year of the annual Rising Stars production. This time around, Debbie Martinez, director of education at the Norris Center, moved away from the usual fare.

“There was a precedence, because the play was usually a revue of musical theater and movie musicals and Debbie came up with this idea that was a departure, based on the actual lives of the performers and how they navigated through life,” said the show’s director, Anthony Mann.

Martinez said the heart of the play lay with the kids, and she needed to remind people why the money raised from the benefit is so important.

“My philosophy is that all the kids are at risk,” Martinez said. “Our kids are presented with dangers

daily … . How they navigate their lives would be tricky to skilled adults, but when you think about it, our kids are doing it daily.”

To create “Imagine, Dream, Believe,” auditioning youths were asked to tell a story about themselves and how the subject of the story impacted their lives. The cast ranges from elementary-school to college-age performers.

“It’s the most powerful process I have been through in my career, and the whole thing has taken on a life of its own,” Martinez said.

Like Bird’s tale, the story being told by Allie Reidy, 16, deals with relationships and family – in her case, in the aftermath of her older brother joining the Marines. Reidy said she was always mean to her brother and now with him away, she feels like there was a lot she missed out on.

“I realized I took too much for granted and I wasted so much time,” Reidy said. “Before he left, we bonded a lot and it’s really difficult. My story is about not taking people or relationships for granted – whether they have moved away or died, you just don’t take it for granted.”

Reidy tells her story through dance.

“It’s going to be a dance – explained through the actions of the dancers,” she said. “It was stronger to do it that way than to connect with words.”

Jevonne Davis, 11, is one of the foster children in the cast.He said his involvement with the Norris Center has given him a new career focus.

“At first I wanted to be a cop and when I did my first play, now acting is my dream,” Davis said.

“Imagine, Dream, Believe” shares children’s stories of leadership, health, tragedy and self-discovery. But what pulled the show together, Martinez said, is the theme of courage.

“Each story will touch the world in its own way and I hope it will make everyone be braver and more assertive about their own lives,” she said.

Miles Villalon 310-543-6617

Imagine, Dream, Believe

What: Youth musical production, part of a gala benefit to help fund college scholarships for Los Angeles County foster children, and performing arts scholarships at the Negri Learning Center.

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